Marijuana Advocates to End Effort to Recall Senator Kimberly Yee

A local group that announced plans to try to recall Republican Senator Kimberly Yee is ending that recall effort.

The group, the Arizona Veterans Assistance Committee -- which was formed by people from the Phoenix chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) -- targeted Yee as she blocked a bill that would have helped fund university research on marijuana's effects on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The chairman of the recall committee, local attorney and Libertarian politician Marc J. Victor, posted the following on Facebook this morning:

Hello everyone, I just got off the phone with Senator Yee's lawyer. He read me verbatim the statement they are going to release as soon as the recall is withdrawn. Although it isn't as good as I would want, it is a clear victory for our side. Senator Yee will now support MMJ research. More importantly, she has moved from an enemy of medical marijuana to at least a moderate supporter. Additionally, she has agreed to meet with Andrew Myers, who did a great job on this project, and others in the MMJ community to discuss the issues going forward including legislation for next term. I think this recall made a big statement, got lots of attention, and served notice that the MMJ community can no longer be ignored. In that regard, it was a huge victory for the big picture which is total legalization of marijuana. A free society requires nothing less.

Peace.Marc

At the time of this post, however, the Secretary of State's website still shows the recall as active, and we haven't seen any statement from Senator Yee.

UPDATE April 17: Well, the recall group is still waiting for that statement from Senator Yee.

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